The stars are aligning for Apple to transition its 13-inch MacBook family into more of a premium product while simultaneously slashing prices on new models by as much as 18 percent, according to investment bank Piper Jaffray.

Reacting to Apple's announcement that it plans to hold a special notebook event on its campus next Tuesday, analyst Gene Munster told clients he believes the big news will surround a revamp of the company's entry-level MacBook line with prices starting at $899 or $999.

"We expect the new MacBooks to be cheaper. However, it is likely that the new MacBooks will be a more premium product (with new aluminum casing and gesture-based touchpad)," he wrote. "In other words, we expect the new MacBooks to be a meaningful upgrade with an average selling price 9 percent to 18 percent lower [than today's models]."

Similarly, Munster is also expecting a complete redesign of the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros, which are likely to carry an $1899 entry-level price tag. Among the new models' selling points will be a thinner design and more sophisticated gesture-based touchpad, he said.

While the analyst isn't expecting Apple to add a new product to its MacBook family, he believes the company will also use the event to update the specs of its ultra-thin MacBook Air. Expectations for a Mac with touchscreen technology should be sidelined for a later date, however.

"While we are confident that Apple will eventually bring its touchscreen technology from the iPhone to the Mac, we do not expect to see a touchscreen Mac this year," he told clients.

Munster maintained his Buy rating and $250 price target on shares of Apple, saying next week's event should serve as a catalyst for the company's stock price.

Seeing how Apple operates thus far, for $899 you're gonna get 512mb or Ram, a CD-Rom, and and a 20gig hard drive. I personally think the specs for for their low end models, their "entry MacBooks", are completely ridiculous compared to what everyone else is selling at the same price point. But that's Mac. I am very curious to see what this release has to offer.

Seeing how Apple operates thus far, for $899 you're gonna get 512mb or Ram, a CD-Rom, and and a 20gig hard drive. I personally think the specs for for their low end models, their "entry MacBooks", are completely ridiculous compared to what everyone else is selling at the same price point. But that's Mac. I am very curious to see what this release has to offer.

That has to be the most asinine and uncorroborated statement I have ever seen.

Best you troll elsewhere. We really couldn't give a rat's ass what you think

Seeing how Apple operates thus far, for $899 you're gonna get 512mb or Ram, a CD-Rom, and and a 20gig hard drive. I personally think the specs for for their low end models, their "entry MacBooks", are completely ridiculous compared to what everyone else is selling at the same price point. But that's Mac. I am very curious to see what this release has to offer.

I think they'll finally come around. Macs often have competitve prices when first introduced but then tend to languish as component prices plummet. The current pricing of Macbooks is a return to their former days of half the power, twice the price (compared to PC makers). But I expect things will on Tuesday. I don't even think the lower prices will have an effect on their margins considering how substantially prices of RAM, CPUs, hard drives, LEDs, etc have fallen. Looking forward to owning my first Mac.

I think they'll finally come around. Macs often have competitve prices when first introduced but then tend to languish as component prices plummet. The current pricing of Macbooks is a return to their former days of half the power, twice the price (compared to PC makers).

A bit of an over statement. While it being true that the MB has not yet had the current Intel updates. Montevina is not twice the speed of Santa Rosa. It is only a slight bump in performance. Including Vista the overall performance isn't much different.

Seeing how Apple operates thus far, for $899 you're gonna get 512mb or Ram, a CD-Rom, and and a 20gig hard drive. I personally think the specs for for their low end models, their "entry MacBooks", are completely ridiculous compared to what everyone else is selling at the same price point. But that's Mac. I am very curious to see what this release has to offer.

I'm not sure what you mean. Over the last two years everytime Intel has launched a major new architecture Apple was the first to use its best mobile chipsets. PC OEM often use slower chips with less L2 cache.

The 120GB single platter 1.8" HDD is the obvious transition for the MBA. I've read that it's a much better drive, and I think the price difference is negligible. As for the 128GB SSD option, It's hard to find info on what Apple will use and what they will cost as they aren't all made the same. Are Intel's SSD options available yet? Will Intel use Apple to showcase their new drives?

PS: The MBA upgrade to Montevina will still offer the same 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz CPU, which I think will upset many potential buyers. The power usage will be reduced slightly, but I hope they do something more drastic to make the battery last considerably longer.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Seeing how Apple operates thus far, for $899 you're gonna get 512mb or Ram, a CD-Rom, and and a 20gig hard drive. I personally think the specs for for their low end models, their "entry MacBooks", are completely ridiculous compared to what everyone else is selling at the same price point. But that's Mac. I am very curious to see what this release has to offer.

The stars are aligning for Apple to transition its 13-inch MacBook family into more of a premium product while simultaneously slashing prices on new models by as much as 18 percent, according to investment bank Piper Jaffray.

The Vaio uses a tray loading BD drive. Solpism said a slot loading drive like the Mac's use cost $1000.

After FuturePastNow pointed out that the drive uses a Panasonic UJ-225, I was able to find listings on Google Shopping for as low as $550. But how much would Apple charge if that is lowest end of the retail price range when we know that Apple sells their upgrades for considerably m7ore? And, of course, this still doesn't address the issue that this drive is a 12.7mm drive, not a 9.5mm drive in either a reader or burner.

PS: Imagine the uproar is Apple does release a BLu-ray option that is only a reader.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

And I suppose you haven't read or perhaps understand that the sales for the MBA are stagnant? I haven't read Sony sales reports for the TT or TZ. Have you?

There's only one reason for that, they're at the end of their update cycle, and everyone is waiting for the update to them. It's normal. At the start of the update cycle, they sell like hotcakes and then a couple months later sales start slowing down.

Prediction:
The coming weeks* Apple will recover (slowly) from the massive hit their shares have taken lately.
By December AAPL will reach $170, fall to $150 in January and then start up again, reaching above $200 (if no split is issued) before summer. $250 within a year seems quite reasonable.

*given that the financial crisis doesn't get much deeper than today.

The above is based upon the massive growth potential Apple computers/iPhones has worldwide.
Despite their current success in the states, Apple is still a smallish player on the international market.
If Apple would reach anywhere near the market shares they have in the US in other countries their sales/earnings/stock price could easily triple.

That has to be the most asinine and uncorroborated statement I have ever seen.

Best you troll elsewhere. We really couldn't give a rat's ass what you think

Exaggerated? Sure. Troll? No way.

He does have a point, right now the $1100 macbook doesn't have a DVD burner. PCs have that at half the price and less.

There's no question that Apple is very very often uncompetitive on specs on the low end models. Especially since Apple only bumps specs every few months - when the configuration is new it's usually not too bad, but after months of competitors lowering prices and raising specs almost continuously, the macs can get WAY out of date pretty fast.

Hopefully this new batch of releases will turn over a new leaf.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenoBell

I'm not sure what you mean. Over the last two years everytime Intel has launched a major new architecture Apple was the first to use its best mobile chipsets. PC OEM often use slower chips with less L2 cache.

It seems obvious that what he means is that the base Apple models tend to lag way behind in ram, HD size, and optical drive specs. Unless the machine is insanely cheap, it seems criminal not to include DVD burning. And I have to agree that it's pretty unbelievable that Apple hasn't shipped a single machine at this late date that even includes BD as an OPTION.

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

And I suppose you haven't read or perhaps understand that the sales for the MBA are stagnant?

Link?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcarling

As long as it's available only as an external option, then I agree with you.

I was in a hurry - so perhaps stagnant was not the best wording but here goes:

We continue to believe that MacBook Pro and MacBook are due for refreshes with more radical redesigns, likely at a special event later this fall. In addition, we are picking up that MacBook Air could see a minor refresh and potential price cut to increase its value proposition as build plans have slowed from earlier robust levels as customers have opted for MacBook or MacBook Pro instead. Shaw Wu